Our third full day on the ship we had cruised around the bottom end of Spitzbergen for a planned morning excursion to shore at Boltodden, but heavy swell made landing in zodiacs impossible. Our expedition team came up with an alternate plan and moved a couple of hours north for a zodiac cruise of the incredible Strongbreen Glacier. The weather was excellent (for the high arctic) which made for nice cruising and great colors in the glacier and icebergs. There weren't a lot of birds species present, but one in particular stood out. We had our first sightings of Ivory Gull, the ghost-like gull of the arctic that often follow polar bears picking on scraps from their kills. It wasn't a lifer for Susan and me, having seen one in California years ago. But to see them in their natural ice environment was pretty special.
Ivory Gull
During lunch and the early afternoon the ship moved across Storfjorden arriving at Russebukta on East Island for a late zodiac cruise. The wildlife here was excellent, with our first walruses, a Polar Fox, and lots of nice birds among the small offshore islands.
Walrus
Black Guillemot
Common Eider pair
Red Phalarope
The following morning we had moved farther north along the west coast of East Island to Kapp Lee, a historic walrus hunting site. There were walrus here, and lots of them. Many were basking on shore, and quite a few were in the water too allowing us excellent looks. Our Field Guides leader John had been trolling eBird earlier in the trip and had noticed a sighting of Steller's Eider at this general location a week before. This is an exceptionally rare species for Svalbard, it's normal range being the high arctic of Canada and Alaska. We talked our zodiac leader into a hunt along the shore for the eider. Sure enough, eagle eye Susan spotted a smaller duck in the distance as we cruised along. A bit of a chase got us in close enough range for an identifiable view - adult male Steller's Eider. Some zodiac sneaking got us and many of the other zodiacs close enough for amazing views and photos. Such a great bird.
Common Eider
Arctic Tern
Steller's Eider
Steller's Eider
In the afternoon we did a landing at Sundneset, a tundra lowlands on the south shore of Barents Island. It wasn't a spot for dramatic scenery, but the flowers were exceptional.
During dinner we had to scramble out on deck - Captain Barria had spotted a polar bear high on a ridge we were passing by. The looks were satisfying and wonderful, but maybe not quite the in-your-face views we'd been hoping for... but never fear, there's always another day.
Polar Bear
Overnight we cuise through the Freeman Straight and all the way to the south shore of North Island, the second largest of the Swalbard Archipelago. This island is dominated by ice and a polar desert, but wildlife does occur here. Our planned landing was scrubbed when the scouting team spotted a polar bear near the landing site. Plan B put us in the zodiacs for a cruise with hopes of refinding the bear. That didn't work out so we continued cruising around the peninsula with in all honesty not a lot to look at or hold our interest. Then the magic happened. One of the zodiac guides spotted another bear near the shore adjacent to a ice cap extending to the sea. We all raced over for a look.
Thick-billed Murres
Thick-billed Murres
Polar Bear
The bear apparently had decided she didn't want to cross the mile or so of ice to get to the other side, so went for a swim. We watched at a safe and legal distance for most of an hour as this majestic animal gracefully swam to the far side. We could only hope she would haul out before we had to leave to stay on schedule. The guides were in constant communication with the ship and the captain gave us the extra time we needed to see what happened.
She hauled out, and amazingly strolled the shoreline for quite some time. We followed along in the zodiacs, always maintaining the legal and respectful distance, but definitely close enough that it was all we could have hoped for. Most of the expedition guides have been doing this for many years and said it was one of the best bear encounters of their lives. We thinks so too.
Taking long lens video of a moving bear from a moving zodiac that's bobbing like a cork is tricky, but here it is.
For email readers, here is a link to the YouTube Video.But wait, there's more! We weren't yet done for the day. Not even close. A short cruise away were the Alkefjellet (Bird Mountain) cliffs. These dolorite basalt cliffs are the home to over 60,000 breeding pairs of Thick-billed Murres, thousands of Black-legged Kittiwakes, and a scattering of predatory Glaucous Gulls. Polar Foxes try their best to get at the nests, but the vertical nature of the cliffs makes it impossible. The sheer number of birds and cacophony of sound coming from the cliffs was incredible. When we arrived there was a low fog, typical of this part of the arctic, hanging over the cliffs. But the magic of the day continued and by the time we went out the weather had cleared. We cruised under the cliffs in zodiacs for over two hours. It was truly spectacular.
The ship arrives to a low hanging fog
Zodiac time and no fog in sight!
The birds were so close and so numerous that I played with iPhone flight shots
Thick-billed Murre (iPhone)
Another iPhone capture
The rest of the photos are from the big camera.
It's hard to capture the shear numbers of birds flying around. This isn't a dirty camera lens.
There was a beautiful Polar Fox patrolling the edge of the cliffs
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